Yesterday was a day of delightful rest - Alexis went skiing with our friends Rachel and Michaela, and so I had the day to myself to simply unwind from a stressful week and play with the blog.

So it got me thinking about rest. In particular, I thought of this particular line in Luke 6 where Jesus says to the Pharisees:

And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Now, the Sabbath is an inviolate holy day, it is the day we are supposed to rest because, I’ve always thought, God rested on that day. But, what kind of God NEEDS to rest? Just why did he rest anyway, and why did he command us to rest on the Sabbath?

I learned something a few weeks ago - the first Sabbath was after God had created everything, including mankind, and everything was “good”. Everything was in its place, mankind did not NEED anything more - God had provided everything they needed. And so God rested - not in the sense we know it, but in the sense of accomplishment: everything that needed to be done was done.

The lesson for mankind was: set aside the day, rest, trust in the fact that God has done everything that is needed for this day. The Sabbath is an exercise in trusting God’s provision.

So when Jesus goes around saying “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”, no wonder the religious leaders got in a tizzy - it’s quite clear that he is claiming Godhood by that statement.

But take it one step beyond - if Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, do we really live that way? Do we take time out of “our busy lives” to exercise simple faith in His provision and His will?

Now, I know the context for this passage points to the disciples doing something on the Sabbath (eating) and Jesus doing something on the Sabbath (healing), and so it’s often used to preach that we Christians ought to do good on the Sabbath.

But it seems to me we Christians run around with an over-hyped sense of our own importance - that somehow we think the Kingdom of God will FAIL unless we complete our various tasks. When was the last time you really had a restful Sunday? (Or Saturday for that matter?)

Yes, those tasks are important, and yes, we ought to actually do more. But it’s not about us. It’s about following Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. What if we were to be reckless in trusting Jesus by actually resting recklessly every now and then? Resting in Him, trusting that He will provide the energy and the nourishment and the healing for us to do good in His name? Trusting that He HAS indeed won the victory, and that His Kingdom IS at hand? That He WILL finish the good work He has begun in you?

Do I really rest with that reckless confidence that God is in charge, do I really trust that Abba is good and knows what He is doing? Or do I think I am so important that God would fail if I didn’t keep worrying and “serving the Kingdom”? Do I see God as the King who provides my supplies, in other words do I see God as someone I NEED, or do I see myself as a Very Important Person who God just can’t do without?

I think this is where we Christians get misled by so many songs about how important we are that God came and died for us - let’s get this straight, He is God, it’s His glory and it’s His provision that sustains us. He doesn’t need us, we need Him. And desperately too, at that. It’s time I rested in His provision and trusted His will, because I need Him.